Should I change the cooler on my X850 XT PE

[Rob80]

I recently bought an X850 XT PE on ebay. It seems to work good but temps seems high to me (47 idle / high 70's under load). I'm even wondering if it's a real XT PE because the model label has been removed from the card. Here my questions.

1. Are these temps normal?

2. Is there a way to tell if my card is an "XT PE" or an "XT" flashed to an "XTPE"?

3. Should I remove the stock cooler and put a cooler Zalman on? (I have a Zalman VF-700 cu from a previous card) or remove the stock cooler and put new thermal compund on it?

If anyone can answer any of my questions or give me your input, I'd appreciated it!

 

[Powermoloch]

Depending on your ambient temperature...it might vary. But seeing that your hitting 70C underload comes into question. It is a possibility that the original owner did tinker the card in a way, a possibility of flashing it to a XTPE could be likely. As for my X850XT, nothing much different w/ a XTPE, right now it's @ 36 idle and hitting Low 50s-48C underload. A better HSF or reseating would do the trick.

I wonder why model number is removed.

hmm I'm not sure you can identify the card, you can try ATi tool, but i'm not sure >.> (I'm a noob lol)

 

[VERTIGGO]

This is my temperature log for my Asus X850XT:

Straight out of the box (Thermaltake Soprano):
GPU
IDLE 45C
LOAD 74C

After improving the case airflow and fans:
GPU
IDLE 37.75C
LOAD 65.75C

After moving to an air conditioned room:
GPU
IDLE 34.75C
LOAD 58.5C

All of my temps were at 100% blower speed on the radeon, and the improvements were because of the airflow and ambient temperatures. Maybe your case is on the warm side.

 

[Rob80]

Originally posted by: VERTIGGO
This is my temperature log for my Asus X850XT:

Straight out of the box (Thermaltake Soprano):
GPU
IDLE 45C
LOAD 74C

After improving the case airflow and fans:
GPU
IDLE 37.75C
LOAD 65.75C

After moving to an air conditioned room:
GPU
IDLE 34.75C
LOAD 58.5C

All of my temps were at 100% blower speed on the radeon, and the improvements were because of the airflow and ambient temperatures. Maybe your case is on the warm side.

I don't think it's a air flow problem with the case because my X800 Pro vivo (last card) was 35 Idle / 55 load. Also the PC is in the basement, it's pretty cool down there.

 

[Rob80]

Thanks Powermoloch & VERTIGGO for your replies. But what about the rest of you, come on guys! Some of you must be able to answer some of my questions??? Please, if you can give some input, I greatly appreciated it!

 

[Munky]

High seventies is kinda hot. It's not so hot that I'd be worried, but still I'd recommend putting a zalman cooler on it, especially since you already have one. That way you can lower the temps, lower the noise, and possibly create some nice OC'ing headroom.

 

[Powermoloch]

Bump to help :thumbsup:

 

[Wentelteefje]

The problem is, when it's flashed, ATI Tool and Windows will probably both tell you it is a X850XT-PE... However, your temps may be a bit higher than normally, but we are talking here about a 130nm GPU with a 540MHz core clock... This is high, and so it should be no surprise it actually runs hot...

The stock coolers are big, and don't cool that good for their size... A Zalman (or ATI Silencer) would be a huge improvement, and should actually be mounted every time you buy such a (in this case formerly, but nonetheless) high-end/high-temps graphics card IMO...

EDIT: The PCB layout is exactly the same, so that's no indication too unfortunately... Aren't there any other stickers with numbers left...? Just checked, the memory chips are completely the same too...